Many members of the Seattle Rotary are business people and are focused on the experience that former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan and urban planner Cary Moon would bring to the mayor's office.
“I'd like to learn more about your recent business experience with managing large budgets,” in the last 10 years, lawyer Melody McCutcheon asked both candidates.
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“My experience with managing people directly was through my family business, which was not 10 years ago,” Moon replied. “I did a lot of collaborative work through progressive organizations in the city in the past 10 years and the collaboration of the People's Waterfront Coalition."
Durkan responded, “As chief federal law enforcement officer, -- you know, FBI, DEA, ICE, EPA, all the federal agencies that had any enforcement power.”
Moon was referring to her work early in the 2000s on the vision of a viaduct-free, tunnel-free Seattle waterfront.
When a similar question came up earlier in the debate, Durkan challenged Moon.
“If you really look at the crux of what she worked on, it was not about a better waterfront. It was about fighting the tunnel and it was the antithesis of bringing people together,” Durkan said.
Moon shot back, “I don't think you were here then so I want to respectfully tell you that that's not actually what happened.”
“Just so everyone knows, I was here then,” Durkan insisted.
Afterward, we asked McCutcheon what she thought of the candidates’ responses.
“Cary's experience is a long time ago, just with her family business in another state, so I was really impressed with Jenny's answer,” she said.
But Cary Moon also impressed people in the audience.
“Very knowledgeable, I like the community activist perspective. But I think we're going to have a good race,” said human services executive Paula Houston. While she is impressed with Moon, Houston said she is leaning toward Durkan.
Cox Media Group